On the same day Vladimir Ilyich writes to Comrade Ganetsky in Stockholm an extensive letter, a copy of which has been preserved in the copying notebook mentioned above. This letter had already been printed in "Proletarian Revolution" and reprinted from there in volume 44 of "Collected Works," but the reprint was apparently made from an erroneous copy. We print the text of the letter from the original, written in Lenin's hand and preserved in the copying book mentioned above.

8.

LENIN.
LETTER TO GANETSKY.

March 30/17.

Dear Comrade! I thank you with all my heart for your efforts and help. I cannot, of course, make use of the services of people who have any connection with the publisher of "The Bell."¹) Today I telegraphed you²) that the only hope of getting out of here is an exchange of Swiss émigrés for interned Germans. England will not let through me under any circumstances, nor internationalists in general, nor Martov and his friends, nor Natanson and his friends. The English sent Chernov back to France, although he had all the papers for passage!! It is clear that Russian proletarian revolution has no worse enemy than English imperialists. It is clear that the lackey of Anglo-French imperialist capital and Russian imperialist Milyukov (and Co.) are capable of anything—of exchange, of betrayal, of anything, anything whatever—to prevent internationalists from returning to Russia: the slightest credulity in this regard toward either Milyukov or Kerensky (an empty prattler, an agent of Russian imperialist bourgeoisie in his objective role) would be directly ruinous for the workers' movement and for our party, would border on betrayal of internationalism. The only, without exaggeration the only hope for us to reach Russia is to send a most reliable person to Russia as quickly as possible, so that through pressure from the Soviet of Workers' Deputies to *achieve* an exchange of all Swiss émigrés for interned Germans. Action must be pursued with extraordinary energy, documenting every step, sparing no expense on telegrams, gathering documents against Milyukov and Co., who are capable of dragging out the matter, feeding promises, deceiving, and so on. You can imagine what torture it is for all of us to sit here at such a time.

Furthermore, the sending of a reliable person to Russia is even more *necessary* on principle. The latest reports from foreign newspapers increasingly indicate that the government, with direct assistance from Kerensky and owing to the inexcusable (to put it mildly) vacillations of Chkheidze, is deceiving and not without success is deceiving the workers, passing off the imperialist war as a "defensive" one. According to a telegram from the St. Petersburg Telegraph Agency of March 30/III 1917, Chkheidze has completely allowed himself to be deceived by this slogan, adopted—if one believes this source, which is generally unreliable—even by the Soviet of Workers' Deputies. In any case, even if this report is unreliable, the *danger* of such deception is nevertheless *enormous*. All the efforts of the party must be directed toward combating it. Our party would have *disgraced* itself forever, would have politically destroyed itself if it had gone along with such deception. Judging from one report, Muranov,³) together with Skobelev, has returned from Kronstadt. If Muranov went there *on the orders* of the Provisional Government of Guchkov-Milyukov, I most earnestly ask you to convey (through a reliable person) and *to publish* that I condemn this unconditionally, that any rapprochement with those wavering toward social-patriotism and standing on the deeply erroneous, deeply harmful social-pacifist, Kautskyist position of Chkheidze and Co., in my deepest conviction, is harmful to the working class, dangerous, impermissible.

I hope you have received my "Letters from Afar" Nos. 1-4, where I have developed the theoretical and political foundations of these views. If these letters have been lost or have not reached Petersburg, I ask you to telegraph me, and I shall send copies.

There is no doubt that in the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies there are numerous and apparently even predominant 1) supporters of Kerensky, the most dangerous agent of imperialist bourgeoisie, conducting imperialism, that is, defense and justification of the plundering, conquering war on the part of Russia, concealed under a sea of ringing phrases and empty promises; 2) supporters of Chkheidze, who is shamelessly wavering toward social-patriotism and shares all the vulgarity, all the absurdity of Kautskyism. Our party is obliged to struggle against both these trends in the most stubborn, the most principled, the most persistent, the most merciless manner. And I personally do not hesitate for a moment to declare, and declare publicly, that I would prefer even an immediate split with anyone whatsoever from our party rather than concessions to Kerensky and Co.'s social-patriotism, or to Chkheidze and Co.'s social-pacifism and Kautskyism.

By all means I must demand the republication in Petersburg—even under the title "From the History of the Last Years of Tsarism"—of the local "Social-Democrat," the pamphlet by Lenin and Zinoviev on war and socialism, ("Communist" and "Social-Democrat Collection"). But most of all and first of all the *theses* from No. 47 of "Social-Democrat" (of October 13/X 1915). These theses are now of arch-importance⁴).

These theses speak directly, clearly, precisely, as we must conduct ourselves during a revolution in Russia, they speak five and a half years before the revolution!

These theses have been remarkably, literally, confirmed by the revolution.

The war has not ceased to be imperialist on the part of Russia and *cannot* *cease* so long as 1) landowners and capitalists, representatives of the *bourgeois* *class*, are in power; 2) so long as such direct agents and servants of this bourgeoisie as Kerensky and other social-patriots are in power; 3) so long as the treaties of tsarism with Anglo-French imperialists remain in force (the Guchkov-Milyukov government *directly* *declared* to the world—I do not know if it has done so in Russia—that it stands by these treaties). These treaties are plundering ones, concerning the seizure of Galicia, Armenia, Constantinople, and so on, and so forth; 4) so long as these treaties are not published and not annulled; 5) so long as Russia's entire alliance with Anglo-French bourgeois imperialist governments is not broken; 6) so long as state power in Russia has not passed from imperialist bourgeoisie (mere promises and "pacifist" declarations, however much the silly Kautsky, Chkheidze and Co. believe them, do not transform the bourgeoisie into non-bourgeoisie) into the hands of the proletariat, which *alone* is capable, provided it has the support of the poorest section of the peasantry, of breaking—not in words but in deed—with the interests of capital, with imperialist policy, of breaking with the plundering of other countries, of completely liberating the peoples oppressed by the Great Russians, of withdrawing troops from Armenia and Galicia immediately, and so forth; 7) only the proletariat is capable, if it frees itself from the influence of its own national bourgeoisie, of instilling genuine trust in the proletarians of all the warring countries and of entering into negotiations for peace with them; 8) these proletarian conditions for peace are laid out precisely and clearly both in No. 47 of Social-Democrat and in my letter No. 4.

From this it is clear that the slogan: we are defending the republic in Russia *now*, we are conducting a "defensive war" *now*, we shall fight Wilhelm, we are fighting *for* the overthrow of Wilhelm, is the greatest deception, the greatest swindling of the workers. For Guchkov—Lvov—Milyukov and Co. are landowners and capitalists, representatives of the *class* of landowners and capitalists, *imperialists*, fighting for the same plundering aims, on the basis of the same plundering treaties of tsarism, in alliance with the same imperialist, plundering bourgeoisie of England, France, and Italy.

A call to Germans from the part of the bourgeois and imperialist republic in Russia: "overthrow Wilhelm" is a repetition of the false slogan of French social-chauvinists, traitors to socialism, Jules Guesde, Sembat and Co.

It is necessary to explain to workers and soldiers very popularly, very clearly, without scholarly words, that it is necessary to overthrow not only Wilhelm, but also the kings of England and Italy. This is first. And second and main—it is necessary to overthrow bourgeois governments and *to begin* with Russia, otherwise peace cannot be obtained. It is possible that the governments of Guchkov—Milyukov we *cannot* immediately "overthrow." Let it be so. But this is no argument for *speaking* an untruth!! One must tell workers the truth. It is necessary to say that the government of Guchkov—Milyukov and Co. is an imperialist government, that workers and peasants must first—whether now or after elections to the Constituent Assembly (if they are not deceived, if elections are not postponed until after the war; the moment cannot be decided from this)—first must transfer all State power into the hands of the working class, enemy of capital, enemy of imperialist war, and only then do they have the right to call for the overthrow of all kings and all bourgeois governments.

For God's sake, try to get all this to Petersburg and to "Pravda," and to Muranov, and to Kamenev, and others. For God's sake, apply all your efforts to send this with the most reliable person. It would be best if a reliable, intelligent young fellow, like Cuba⁵) (he would render great service to the entire worldwide workers' movement) went and helped our Petersburg friends!! I hope you will do this!! Do everything possible.

Conditions in Petersburg are extremely difficult. Patriotic republicans are straining every effort. They want to pour filth and mud on our party ("the Chernomozov affair"⁶)—I am sending a document about it) and so on, and so on.

One cannot trust either Chkheidze and Co., or Sukhanov, or Steklov, and others. No rapprochement with any other parties, with anyone! Not a shadow of trust and support for the gov[ernment] of Gu[chkov]—Milyuk[ov] and Co.!! Uncompromising propaganda of internationalism and struggle against republican chauvinism and social-chauvinism everywhere, both in the press and within the Sov[iet] of Work[ers] Dep[uties], organization of our party—that is the essence. Kamenev must understand that upon him rests *all* *world*-*historical* responsibility.

Do not spare money on the connection between Petersburg and Stockholm!!

I very much ask you, dear comrade, to telegraph me about receiving this letter and generally to keep *me informed in all respects au courant⁷). I hope the Swedish friends will help in this. A firm handshake!

Your Lenin.

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1) "The Bell"—organ of Parvus, formerly a left Social-Democrat who, with the beginning of the war, went over entirely to the German bourgeoisie.

2) See document No. 7.

3) M. K. Muranov, former member of the Fourth State Duma, who returned after the February Revolution from Siberian exile, traveled to Kronstadt entirely independently of the Provisional Government.

4) The "Theses" are reprinted above—see note 2 to the letter to A. G. Shlyapnikov (No. 28).

5) "Cuba"—a pseudonym for Comrade Ganetsky.

6) The "Chernomozov affair" is dealt with in the *following* document (No. 9).

7) In the course of events.